Marina di Campo Overview

Overview

Marina di Campo is located betweenthe massif of Mount Capanne and the central mountains of the islands where the plain reaches the sea; immediately after a wide pine forests the gold sandy beach along this coast is the largest of Elba. The ancient part of the village is situated on the south-west sides at the foot promontory which divides it from Galenzana. Until the early '50 the village was a small fishery harbours gathered between the sea and the vineyards on the hills but today "Campo" has an important rule in the island economy: its splendid location has been helpful for the increasing of tourism and the offer of receptive and ricreative structures is large and various. Few km. from the centre in La Pila places there's the only airport of the Tuscan Archipelago. The village has 2260 people and its district 4390 with more than 55 sq.km. it is the widest of the island.

Althoug the municipality was born only in 1894 Marina di Campo area is inhabited since ancient times: the remains of some graves discovered near Castiglione Hill date back to the II millennium B.C.; the ruins on the top of the hill probably belong to one of the Etruscan fortresses built from the V century B.C. to defend the rich iron mines on the island. After the drop of the Roman Empire the village was abandoned for the raids of Saracen pirates until the island annexation at Pisa Republic (XII century). Most of the defensing structures and Romanesque churches of the District belong to that period. San Mamiliano Church (X century) is antecedent while the Tower that controls the bay from the South side of the harbour dates back to the XVI century.